Ok, there are a lot of dull moments in Ohio, but for the residents in the vicinity of Zanesville,
this isn't a dull moment:
The owner of a wild animal preserve released dozens of animals from their cages before he shot and killed himself as officials Wednesday continued to search for a mountain lion and grizzly bear still roaming the area.
As daylight came to Zanesville, a rural area 55 miles east of Columbus, people were being told to stay inside. Officers with assault rifles patrolled the area looking for the two animals and a monkey. An estimated 51 animals ranging from tigers and lions to cheetahs and bears had escaped the compound.
"It's like Noah's arc wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio," said
Jack Hanna, celebrity zookeeper and Director Emritus of the Columbus Zoo who attended a morning press conference with officials.
Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling said he got a call from the city's safety director around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday that Terry Thompson, the owner of the farm, had set the animals free and then shot himself.
No suicide note was left. Officials said Thompson cut the gates on the pens so the animals could not be put back inside their cages.
I'm not a backer of the Humane Society of the United States, but one of the planks they
demanded when they decided not to pursue a voter initiative on animal care was a ban on the private ownership of wild animals. As insignificant as it seemed then, today they appear somewhat prescient. It provides the organization with another talking point and publicity:
The Humane Society of the United States on Wednesday urged Ohio to immediately issue emergency restrictions on the sale and possession of dangerous wild animals. "
"How many incidents must we catalogue before the state takes action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals," Humane Society Wayne Pacelle said in a statement.
This was probably the worst case idea in the back of the sheriff's head when he fielded other complaints at this operation.
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